Saying goodbye to a series like Stranger Things was a tough pill to swallow. After almost 10 years, five seasons and a whole imaginary world that had really captured a whole generation of viewers, the finale on New Year’s Eve left loads of fans feeling that there was still a bit of a story left to tell. Not so much because of what was shown on screen, but because you just couldn’t quite accept that the journey in Hawkins was really over and done with. It was in that emotional space – part nostalgia, part begrudging acceptance of saying goodbye – that one of the most talked about and contentious theories to emerge around the series in recent weeks took shape.
Now this theory is being called “Conformity Gate,” and it took off like wildfire online after the final episode of season 5 dropped. Apparently, the theory is that the time jump at the end of the eighth episode wasn’t real, but some kind of illusion created by Vecna. The idea is that the world we thought was back to normal was just a made-up construct, a kind of mental prison where the characters – and we viewers – are tricked into thinking everything has been wrapped up. So the rumour was that Stranger Things wasn’t really over and that Netflix had been secretly preparing an additional episode to drop out of the blue and blow the lid off the whole finale.
The anticipation around this supposed secret episode really built up around January 7th, a date that loads of fans were convinced would be the moment when the ‘truth’ behind the finale was finally revealed. For hours, thousands of users just kept refreshing Netflix, convinced that at the expected time, Episode 9 would suddenly appear in the catalog. But of course, the evening passed without a peep: no new chapter, no hidden surprise – nothing. The whole idea of a “fake” ending, which some fans had pushed as a deception orchestrated by Vecna against the audience, mostly stemmed from disappointment with the final episode being a bit of a letdown, with some fans even saying it was one of the weakest of the whole series.
Adding fuel to the fire was this super cryptic post from Netflix, which read: “Your future is coming. #WhatNext January 7, 2026”. For loads of fans, this was the definitive sign that something big was in the offing – only to turn out to be just a preview of a new marketing campaign for 2026 releases and some fluff about personalising the viewing experience. However, Netflix put the kibosh on all this speculation by updating their official profiles with a simple but crystal clear message: “ALL STRANGER THINGS EPISODES ARE NOW AVAILABLE.”
The fans’ reaction was instant and all over the place. “I hate that ‘Conformity Gate’ wasn’t real & that the possibility of it ever happening is basically zero,” one fan ranted & raved in a post. “I’d desperately love it if the Duffer brothers were to rethink the ending and pull off something no one would have ever seen coming: a complete 180 and redo the second half of season 5 and that finale.” Others were trying to find a silver lining in the theory, dragging some positivity out of what is essentially a bunch of wild speculation: “#ConformityGate could still be true even if there’s no special episode laying it all out – it’d just mean the ending is even bleaker and more unsatisfying and we’d have a whole new ‘mystery’ to unravel for years to come.”
Then you had people defending the rather nice little movement it created: “Even without a secret episode, #ConformityGate was a lifeline that brought some positivity to the usual social media gloom.” Others couldn’t resist poking fun at the denial, with snarky comments like “Well, lo & behold, ‘Conformity Gate’ never happened after all.” Still, some fans were being pretty snippy about the excuses made for the writers: “Come on, it’s like you’re making excuses for lazy writing and gaping plot holes that have just been lying there all season.” Some were perfectly happy as is with the way the story ended, though: “It’s quite funny that #ConformityFate went viral & a lot of people are still getting all worked up even though episode 8 wrapped everything up perfectly… tying back to the first scene of S1E1 & all that. It’s a wrap.”
Even though the show itself is well & truly over now, the world that the Duffer brothers created is by no means destined to disappear anytime soon. There’s coming a load of documentaries, animated things & a spin-off that’s being hyped as bringing a completely new mythology, so Hawkins is going to be alive in some form for years to come. But for many fans, the hardest part is probably just coming to terms with the fact that this specific story really is done & dusted.
